I have a 2010 GL1800 trike, by California Side Car with 14k miles. Like I said previously, I felt a small vibration in it coming home from Sturgis. I would like to know if any of you guys that have a trike by CSC also. I made contact with them and they said that it is in the drive line. I, and my riding partner with 9k miles, both trikes identical, have the same problem. We removed the drive line on his machine, and found the spines completely dry of grease, and the splines were all chewed up due to this. CSC sent me a bulliten telling me to weld, yes I said weld the two pieces of the drive line with the bad splines together while it is still attached to the trike. Once that is done, removal of the driveline is impossible from then on. They told me that this is a recurring problem and that many folks have contacted them about this problem. I would like to know if there are any of you that would have a better fix for this problem. Mine comes apart tomorrow so I will see what mine looks like then. I am sure that it will be the same. So, if you have a CSC trike, maybe you should take a look under there too. There is a rubber spacer on the rear of the shaft about three quarters of an inch thick, it has cracks all over it. They said that this is normal too. I am just wondering if anyone else has ever had this vibration problem with the drive line. Their fix is welding, not replacement. Not a good customer relations solution in my book. I sure would like to hear from anyone on this problem. Thanks.

1. Not sure where your info came from that once welded you can not remove the shaft?????2. This is a link to a supplier of an alternative "fix" for the CSC drive shaft. I have no ties to this business and can not tell you if this is a viable replacement or not: http://www.mountaintrikes.com/index.html3. The weld of the current shaft is a recall and this recall ends in SEPTEMBER. Not much time left.

I wrote California Side Car, as I had been considering their kit. Here is my response, and it does not look like they are even looking for a better solution:

Hi (themainviking),

I assume you have had a discussion with us or a dealer and should know that a trike vibration can come from severaldifferent sources. It should not immediately be diagnosed as a kit problem. If every other possible scenario has beeneliminated and it is determined the drive shaft is the source ( statistically less than 1% of our kits is this the issue), thenwelding the intermediate shaft into the drive shaft is a fix that will prevent any future concern or movement in the driveline that could cause wearing of the spines. This is a permanent solution to this problem or the possibility of any futureslippage or movement in the drive shaft. The market reality is that several trike manufacturers have been facing vibrationissues and similar issues.

We appreciate you interest in CSC and wish you well in your search for your new trike.

Just Had adrive line prob on my 2002 Wing CSC Trike.Something let loose,and I had to send it to the shop on a roll back.Don,t know yet what went wrong.Just happened Sat.Makes a hell of a noise when you let the clutch out,but don,t go anywhere. Of course,it let loose at a very busy intersection.Lite turned,I let the clutch out,she went clunk,and there I sat.At least it happened in town,and not 100 miles down the road.

Hey guys, Contacted CSC about the drive line on my trike.They said there have been "issues" with the drive shaft,ewhich they are redesigning...They told my service manager that they would pay 2 hours labor to remove the shaft and ship it to them for repair or replacement,so at least I,m glad to see that they are willing to stand behind thier product. Now we have to wait for the replacement. Summer is going away fast,and this is some of the best weather for riding in Ohio...Will update later.

Well ancient one, here is an update from my original post on the 15th. Since then, I had received my new drive shaft from CSC. I was told that if I did not get it welded, I would lose my last year warrantee remaining on my bike. So I reinstalled the new drive shaft, greased the b-jesus out of it and headed for Seattle Wa. That was the closest place that could do the job. Now heres the kicker, the maching ran like a swiss watch all the way there 365 miles. I turned it over to the shop folks and they welded it like they were supposed to. So heading back to home, it was again VIBRATING REAL GOOD at speeds 60-70 mph. So when I got home I again called them and informed them of this. They said that they could not figure it out and for me to ride the bike for another 1k miles and then call them to see if it was still vibrating. My main concern, as this thing is vibrating now, what is it going to affect, i.e. trans/rear end or what. Something has to give if there is a vibration as far as I can see. So you see guys, there are all kinds of stories on this thing. I do know that the new drive shafts will not fit anything from before a 2012 model, it is completely different from what we all now have. So I guess that we will just have to wait and see what happens. I know if nothing else, you can buy a new shaft on wingstuff for a couple of hundred bucks. Of course, if it is welded in, how are you going to get it out? Hmmmm. The saga continues.......

Targhee ****, Thanks for the update.I,m still setting in the shop."Been swamped",so they still don,t have it out.Probably should have brought it home,and done it myself.Now the service manager says he don,t know if they can do it in the 2 hours alloted,but you said it took 20 minutes.What is involved in pulling the shaft ? Seems to me ,it shouldn,t be much more then dropping the U-joint,and sliding it off the spline. Wonder if your vibration is caused by the weld throwing the shaft out of balance,since it did fine before you got it "fixed"Can you still get it out after it,s welded ? Seems we have a problem here that does not have a solution.Hope you can get it worked out

I sure dont know what your guys are doing. I never messed with anything like this, but can manage with mechanical things pretty good. It does not take that long to take it out. I know you can do it. There are only three large bolts that go through a rubber coupling on the rear of the shaft. You only have to take them out, (the ones with a nut on the other side). Look at the middle of the shaft, and you will see a bracket, I guess that it is there in case the shaft falls off. You have to remove the two little nuts and let it loose. When you get that off, and the three bolts out, just slide the part attached to the rubber coupling forward about an inch or so, and it will slide right off the front spline. My rear spline was bone dry of grease and so was the front spline. Be sure to look real good at yours. Why it is taking them so long, is beyond me. Let me know how it works for you.

Hi Dawg, the reason is, is because once it is welded you would not able to compress it the inch or so to get the intermediate shaft alignment stub into the bearing in the rear end. You need to have the shaft extended to its fullest, and then weld it. Then it is in there forever, unless you move the rear end.....not me!

targhee **** wrote:Hi Dawg, the reason is, is because once it is welded you would not able to compress it the inch or so to get the intermediate shaft alignment stub into the bearing in the rear end. You need to have the shaft extended to its fullest, and then weld it. Then it is in there forever, unless you move the rear end.....not me!

HEY DAWG, ITS ME AGAIN WITH AN UPDATE ON MY VIBRATION PROBLEM. WHEN I GOT THE TRIKE HOME, I CRAWLED UNDER IT (ITS UP ON MY RACK I MADE) AND DISCOVERED THAT WHEN THEY WELDED IT UP, THEY DID NOT COMPLY WITH THE INSTRUCTION #14 & #15. IT WAS ONE INCH SHORT ON THE REAR END OF THE SHAFT, AND THAT MEANT THAT THERE WAS ONLY 11/16TH OF AN INCH OF SPLINE ON THE MAIN OUTPUT SHAFT SPLINE. I THINK THAT BECAUSE IT WAS NOT SEATED ALL THE WAY FORWARD, THERE WAS THE VIBRATION POINT. THE GUY THAT DID IT FOR ME IS IN SEATTLE, AND HE JUST LEFT WITH MY BIKE YESTERDAY TO MAKE IT RIGHT. SO NOW WE ARE IN A WAITING MODE, AND THE SUMMER IS SLIPPING BY REAL FAST. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE THE FINAL FIX ON THIS THING.

Hey Guys, Bike is still in the shop.3 weeks now,CSC has the shaft,and says it,s at heat treat,and they won,t get it back til the 18th.So,I,m looking at probably ANOTHER 2 weeks before I get the bike back..Not happy.Not happy at all.Lot of good poker runs this time of the year here,and I,m missing them all>Not good customer service.Next trike will probably not be a CSC...Glad you are getting yours resolved ****.Too bad they can,t do things right the first time.Lot of that going around these days.No pride in wormanship.

Hey Dawg, Bike is at the Honda dealer..The splines stripped on mine so I,m guessing that they had to fabricate a new one,then heat treat it.Asked to just send a new one ,but they said they didn,t have any.Starting to feel like I already got the shaft.Going to call them later,and see if I can lite a fire under thier butt.Patience is running thin

http://www.mountaintrikes.com/index.htmlThis business has developed their own version of a drive shaft for the CSC trikes.Several from another forum are using them.I know nothing about this business or their drive shaft, just putting the info out there for all to see.

Hey Dawg and Ancient One. Its me again. I have just found, what I think is going to be the complete fix for this shaft problems that we all have been having. There is a guy who has designed the coupling end into a CV joint, thereby eliminating the rubber coupling altogether. He went to CSC and they shined him on. I am going to call him in the morning, and ask him to send me this unit. I have seen pictures of it, and it looks good to me. Here is his phone number if you care to also check it out. He said (to one of my friends) that there has been many folks call him for the fix. His name is Stan, 828.456.6427. Have him send you the pictures and see what it looks like. I have already welded mine, so I will have to get the whole shaft. If you have welded it yet, its going to cost you less. I think all CSC trike riders should be aware of this. later. Targhee ****

Hey Guys, That,s the way it should have done to begin with.I was at a CSC dealer and they had a display of the new rear end assembly.Had a U-joint bracket on the the rear end yoke,instead of that rubber connector.I don,t know if I want to go through the whole mess again.I rode mine for 50 miles before I would accept it back,and it is good..Took them 6 weeks,and 3 drive shafts to get it right.I,m 72,with some medical conditions that may only allow me ride for a few more years,if that. So,I think I,m just going to enjoy the rest of the ride..Been nice gettin back,and forth with you guys,and I especially thank you ****.If I hadn,t seen your blog,I would have went ahead and got it fixed out of my pocket.Then again.If I would have done that,they probably would have just popped another shaft in,and,14K down the road.Same deal.

My concern now is the with new shaft, the transfer case has been removed. Once again the shaft is running off center as was the design when CSC started. Time will tell.For me, CSC has been removed from my list of suggested conversions since they added the transfer case in stead of moving the differential over to align w/ the Wing's drive shaft output!

I see that there is a lot of fixes being done out there, and glad to see it, as CSC sure is not any help. I also am taking them off of my favorites list. Hey, Ancient, I am the same age as you, and plan on riding till the pegs fall off. So if you see me laying on the road someplace, just kick me over to the side of the road ok? I am going to call this guy and see what he has to say today, if you are interested, I will let you know what he says. Glad to help fellow wingers. Talk later. Richard

I wouldn't say they're no help as they have tried. I see the problem as trying to repair @ the least cost and or not having the engineering expertise available to figure all the stresses to help engineer a good fix.

Hi all, Well CSC wanted me to weld my driveshaft too! I elected to buy (I know you shouldn't have to buy) Mtn Trikes CV joint to replace the rubber flex joint on the rear of the driveshaft. The mtn. Trikes coupler is about $400 but it's the fix that CSC should have furnished. I was told also by CSC that after the shaft had been welded you have to pull the rearend back or pull the motor to remove it. In addition welding on hardened metal could crystalize the metal and create a fracture point. I now have over 3000 miles on my Mtn. Trike Coupler and everything is smooth and even shifts better eliminating the slop in the rubber coupler. Contact Stan and Nancy at Mtn Trikes in N. Carolina and you can see this is a much better fix. I didn't want to be stranded 200 miles from home with a ruined driveline. I see even some CSC owners have had failures with their welded shafts and have opted for the Mtn Trikes fix. I have no association with Mtn Trikes but think that their fix is far superior to the welding.

Hey Carbco, I got mine after three times having problems with my CSC shaft. I agree they should pay for it too, as they know and knew that they had a problem and still put them in the machines. That rubber coupler is actually an axle joint for a Mercedes car not a motorcycle. Mine is still in my shop waiting for the foot of snow to go away here in Coeur d Alene. I am glad to hear that things run better than before. We are planning on a trip this spring over to Oregon cant wait to see how she runs. Glad all is ok with yours.

****, Got your note today and were you saying that you had problems with the CSC driveshaft and have also gotten the Mtn. Trikes Coupler? I've been on a 200 mile ride today as the weather is getting better here in Sisters. It was 23 degrees this morning at 8 am when I left home but warmed all the way up to 50 degrees this afternoon. I've checked my mtn. trike coupler several times since installing it and it is way better than having the shaft welded or the rubber coupler. We were nearly neighbors we looked at several homes to retire in Athol. My wife even said that the name was the perfect place for me to live. What did she mean by that, I don't know? If you're traveling to the Oregon coast and come through central Oregon. Please look me up and we can compare notes. Best of the new year. Alan